Please note: Due to the large volume of correspondence I receive, I regret that I cannot answer all messages.

I will be updating the information and moving to another blog in the next few months. Please note in the meantime that Devin Terhune has been a Ph. D. for some time doing a very successful post-doc at the University of Oxford.

A forthcoming lecture on a fascinating early figure in the study of psi:

Thursday Nov 14, 15.15-17, Paradisgatan 5P, room P206, Lund

The Perfect Insect of the Imaginal: Frederic Myers and the Evolution of the Human Imagination

Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor, Rice University, USA

Prof. Kripal will explore the intellectual roots of the contemporary category of the "paranormal" in Victorian university culture and the central figure of the Cambridge classicist Frederic Myers. Prof. Kripal will also treat Myers' framing of the "imaginal" nature of psychical experiences and the reception history of this category in the work of Theodore Flournoy, C. G. Jung, and Henry Corbin. Finally, he will also compare Myers with the American humorist Mark Twain, who was similarly fascinated by psychical phenomena.

As
some of you have read in Swedish newspapers, a group of Lund professors
attacked me and the university’s magazine, LUM, for publishing an article
describing the research we conduct at CERCAP on parapsychology. Here are some
clarifications and references on this matter:

1)No single experiment in parapsychology (psi), or in other
areas of science for that matter, “proves” the reality of a phenomenon; the
strength of the evidence depends, rather, on whether well-conducted studies
cumulatively provide evidence for its validity. Analyses of the context we used
(1, 2), ganzfeld, show that results supporting a psi hypothesis cannot be
reasonably attributed to chance or to poorly conducted research. Our study (3)
supported this general finding in that our measure of telepathic functioning
during ganzfeld correlated strongly with two variables that have previously
been found to correlate with psi (believing that one will be successful in the
experiment, and reporting previous ostensible psi phenomena), and very strongly
with experiencing an altered state (among high hypnotizables).

2)Analyses of all the relevant research
literature (meta-analyses) have also found support for other psi phenomena
(4-6) and this evidence has been found to be at least as strong as that for
accepted phenomena in mainstream science (7).

3)Critics misunderstood our study in that
it was not designed to test whether telepathy exists or not (so-called
“proof experiments”), but to investigate the relationship between specific
variables, such as experiencing an altered state and the psi task (a “process
experiment”). The
separate analyses of high and low hypnotizables in our study were determined a
priori after screening hundreds of individuals because we expected, based
on previous research, that alterations of consciousness would be especially
evident among high hypnotizables. We developed the study’s hypotheses before
we conducted it, thus any criticism about post-hoc analyses is unfounded.

4)Although there are general principles
that underlie the scientific method across disciplines such as a respect for
research data irrespective of one’s ontological preferences, the rationale
behind using specific techniques and analyses require specific education in a
research area, knowledge of the specialized literature, and so on. The notion
that a group without specific competence in an area would appoint themselves as
authorities to dictate which areas should or should not be studied
scientifically harkens back to the prescientific era in Western civilization.

5) There are scientists that vehemently
oppose psi, but there are also eminent scientists and scientific organizations
that have been convinced by the evidence for psi or, at least, are supportive
of further research in the topic. Work on psi is being conducted in some top
universities such as Cornell and University of California in the USA, and more
than a dozen universities in the UK.

6)My activities doing research in
hypnosis and psi fulfill exactly the remit for the Thorsen Chair for which I
was unanimously appointed by Lund University in 2005. My work was singled out
as “excellent” by the independent group RQ08 in 2008, has been published in top
journals in psychology and psychiatry, and has received more than a dozen
awards from diverse scientific organizations.

We
are currently conducting a follow-up of our 2011 study. Anyone interested in
receiving a copy of it can send me an email requesting it.

5.
Schmidt, S. (2012). Can we help just by good intentions? A meta-analysis of
experiments on distant intention effects? Journal of Alternative and
Complementary Medicine, 6, 529-533. doi: 10.1089/acm.2011.0321

1) In association with the Friends of Moderna Museet of Malmö(MMV) we present the series of talks Surrealisms. The series explores surrealist expressions in different areas, from film to music, from psychological perspectives, through artists in the exhibition and much more. Surrealisms with definite expressions within defined areas or different aspects of one SUPERSURREALISM?

9 October 6pm. Surrealisms: PsychologyEtzel Cardeña is professor of consciousness and anomalistic psychology at Lund University. Under the titleExploring other realities: altered states of conciousness, psi and surrealism he will talk about surrealisms relationship with psychology. (In English).

4 December 6 pm. Surrealisms: TheatreEtzel Cardeña returns to the museum, here in his role as the artistic director of the International Theatre of Malmö (ITM). We will be given an introduction to surrealist theatre and staged readings of the first act of If you please by André Breton and Philippe Soupault and the final act of When five years pass by Federico Garcia Lorca, with actors from ITM. (In English)

The lectures will be held at The Loading Dock, the only room open during the evening programme. Free admission for members of MMV, 50 SEK for others.

2) Lecture

Tid: 2012-10-16 kl. 10.00 Sluttid: 2012-10-16 kl. 12.00

Professor Raymond Tallis: "Aping Mankind: Neuromania and Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Mankind. Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity, chosen as one of the Books of the Year 2011 in the Guardian (David Lodge), Observer, and Evening Standard (George Walden), exposes the exaggerated claims made for the ability of neuroscience and evolutionary theory to explain human consciousness, behaviour, culture and society. Dr. Tallis has published research on clinical neurology as well as philosophy, poetry, and other areas.Plats: Eden 121, LundE-post: Etzel.Cardena@psychology.lu.se